Barbara's face hardened
for a moment, but the next instant she smiled. This man was her enemy,
all the more dangerous because he was also her guardian, but it would be
wise to keep him in ignorance of how fully she understood him.
"Your arrival is unexpected, sir."
"Yet not altogether unwelcome, I trust," said Sir John, treating her
with studied courtliness, a manner he could use to perfection. "I was
obliged to come to town, and could not refrain from coming to see you.
You may guess why, perchance?"
"Has it to do with a young person in trouble?" asked Barbara.
Sir John looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh, you mean that girl who came
to the Abbey. Did she really travel all the way to London to see you? I
am surprised. She did not tell me her story, but I told her where you
were to be found, never supposing that she would come to you."
"She came, and I have heard her story," said Barbara.
"It bears a close relationship to many another young woman's story, I
wager," said Sir John with a smile. "Truly, I was not much impressed
with her. If I may be allowed to speak a word of warning, I should say
beware of her. She could lie easily, I fancy, with never a blush or the
flicker of an eyelid to betray her.
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